Machine for sorting silk or other thread according to its size



N- PETERS, PHDTO-LITHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES yPATEN T OFFICE- IRA DIMOCK, OF MANSEIELD CENTER,CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR SORTING SILK OR OTHER THREAD ACCORDING TO ITS SIZE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,556, dated September 21, 1858.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Ina Dirocx, of Mansfield Center, in the county ofTolland and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefullviachine for Sorting Silk or other Thread According to its Size orThickness: and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a front view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a back View of thesame. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 4 is aplan of the same. Figs. 5 and 6 represent separate portions of themachine as will be found hereinafter explained.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The principal feature of my invention consists in certain means wherebya thread or threads of silk or other fibrous material produced byspinning or obtained in any other way is so directed on to a bobbin orother winding apparatus that it will be distributed or arranged upondifferent parts of said bobbin or apparatus according to its size orthickness, that to say with the thicker' and thinner portions separatedor with portions of one size or thickness on one portion of the bobbinor apparatus and those of another size or thickness on another portion.

My invention further consists in certain means of controlling thewinding of the thread or threads on a series of bobbins or spools fromthe bobbin or winding apparatus on the several parts of which it hasbeen distributed according to its size or thickness, so that all of onethickness will be wound upon one bobbin or spool, and all of anotherthickness on another, andn the whole be sorted in as many quantities ofdifferent size or thickness but each having nearly the same thicknessthroughout, as may be desired.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, A, are two standards, and B, B1, are longitudinal pieces of timber oriron which combine with the standards to constitute the framing` of themachine.

C, is a bobbin, on which the thread zii", to be sorte-d is placed in themachine; the said bobbin being fitted to rotate freely on a stationaryspindle a, attached to the lower part B1, of the framing.

D, is a long bobbin or roll, upon which he thread is wound singly fromthe bobbin C, and upon which the thread, as it is wound, is distributednearer to one or the other end, according to its size or thickness, saidbobbin or roll D heilig fitted tightly on a spindle which is arranged infixed bearings at the top of the machine, and being driven by thecontact of a friction roller 7), at one end of it with another frictionroller c, on a shaft E, arranged in suitable bearings below it. Theshaft E, derives rotary motion through a pair of spur gears d, e, from ashaft F, which is the driving shaft of the machine and to which rotarymotion is imparted by any suitable agency. The thread in passing fromthe bobbin C, to the longer bobbin or roll D passes between the smoothperipherical surfaces of a cylindrical wheel G, and a smallercylindrical roller H. The wheel G, has a slightly eccentric axle g,which works between two center screws z., L, in a frame I, which isbolted to the lower rail B1, of the main framing. provided with journalsand fitted to work in suitable journal boxes.

The roller H is centered between two center screws f, f, in a smallframe J, attached to the frame I, by center screws le, la, or otherwisein such a manner as to be capable of swinging to adjust the rollernearer to or farther from the wheel G, which may be termed the eccentricwheel. The roller H is held toward the eccentric wheel G, by means of aspring z', applied to an arm 1, forming part of its swinging frame, butit is prevented approaching said wheel too closely by means of a screwj, which screws through said arm and bears upon the frame J. This screwy', serves to adjust the roller H to the proper distance from theeccentric wheel for the thread t, to receive a slight pressure inpassingbetween said roller and wheel. The thread t, passes through aguide l, on its way from the bobbin C, to the wheel G, and roller H. Theeccentric wheel has a weight -G1, attached in such a manner as to drawthat part of its periphery which is farthest from its center in adownward direction toward the roller H, as indicated by the arrow -uponsaid wheel in Fig. 1, which .action of the weight causes the wheelalways to press the thread against the roller H. As the The said axlemay, however, be.

thread is drawn up from the bobbin C, it

slides over the surface of the Wheel G, and causes the roller H, toturn; and as a thicker portion comes between the said wheel and roller,its friction on the wheel causes the latter to turn in the oppositedirection to the arrow shown upon the wheel to present a sufiicientlywider space between the wheel and roller to permit it to pass; but as athinner portion comes between said wheel and roller, the weight G1 drawsback the wheel in the direction of the arrow. In this way it will beseen that the thickness of the thread passing between the wheel androller determines the position of the wheel; and this position of thewheel controls, by the means presently to be described, the position ofa traversing guide m, which directs the thread t, on to the long bobbinor roll D, so as to make it direct the said thread toward one or anotherportion of said bobbin or roll, so that its thickness shall be regularlygraduated or nearly so from one end of the said bobbin or roll to theother.

The traversing guide m, is attached to a `long horizontal bar K, whichis fitted to slide longitudinally and in a `direction parallel with thebobbin or roll D, in guides L, L, on the top of the framing, and thisbar derives a longitudinal motion by the action of a cam' M, working ona fixed stud n, at one end of the framing, aided by a spring 9", on acrosshead N, to which the bar K, and another sliding bar N1,constituting a guide bar, are attached, the said cam being driven by abelt nl, from a pulley j), on the shaft F. The length of movement of thebar K, is about or a little more than one-third of the length of thatpart of the bobbin or roll D on which it is desired to distribute thethread. The traversing guide mi, is not attached rigidly to the bar K,but to a slide K1, which fits to the said bar with a sufhcient degree offriction to prevent it moving thereon by the action of the thread on theguide, but to permit of its being moved by coming in contact with one orother of two arms g, g1, which l call shifters whose operations are socontrolled by the action of a cam P, attached to the wheel H, as toshift the slide along the bar as the said wheel is caused to change itsposition by the varying thickness of the thread, and thus cause theguide m, to traverse opposite to a different part of the bobbin or rollD. The shifters g, g1, are attached to two rockshafts Q, Q1, which arearranged parallel with the bar K,

and bobbin D, between suitable centers 1^, r,

cam P, which has fourrinclined steps u1, u2 a3, u, shown in Fig. 5, andthe slide K, has four square projections '211, 02, o3, of, shown in Fig.4. The steps u1, and u, are even with each other, and so are the moreprominent steps u2, ua. The projections o1, U4 on the slide K, areequally prominent, and so are the more prominent ones o2, o3. Thedistance of the two arms t, t1, from each other is such that there isroom to admit the two steps u2, and 1&3, between them and permit saidarms to rest upon the steps u1, and m4,' and the distances between theshifters Q, g1, and between the projections Q12, and o3, on the slideK1, are respectively such that when the slide isproperly placed upon thebar K, the slide moving with the bar may not be interfered with by theshifters. The distance from either of the two more prominent projectionso2, o3, on the slide K1, to the nearest of the projections o1, and o4,is slightly less than the length of tra/verse of the bar K. The cam P isformed of two thin plates of metal, in form the reverse of each other,fitted to slide one under the other, and attached to the shaft J, of theeccentric wheel H, by separate arms w, w1, and hubs fr, m1. The outerpiece which con,- forms to the periphery of the eccentric wheel hasformed upon it the two steps u1, and u2, and the inner piece the twosteps a3, and at. This construction of the cam permits the steps al, u,to be set farther apart or nearer together.

The operation of the slide K, to control the direction of the thread onto the bobbin D, is as follows: When the thickness of the thread passingbetween the eccentric wheel G, and ro-ller H, is about an average of thewhole quantity to be sorted, the position of the wheelG, will be suchthat the steps u2, and n3, will be between the arms t1, at tached to theshifters, which arms are always pulled toward the cam by the weights s,si, and while said arms t, t1, rest against .the two steps u1, fu?, theslide K1, occupies such a position on the bar K, that the projectionso2, o3, work between the shifters Q, g1, without touching either ofthem, and the guide m, is caused to traverse opposite the bobbin D1 toan equal distance from the center of the portion on which the thread isto be distributed; and though the projections 01, o4, pass the shifters,the latter are prevented by the action of the steps al, and U4, of thecam P, on the arms t, t1, from advancing far enough to be struck by thelast-mentioned projections. As soon, however, as the eccentric wheel iscaused to change its position in any considerable degree by a variationin the thicknes of the thread passing it, one of the arms t, t1, isthrown back by the action of one of the steps u2, u3,'upon it, and itsshifter g, or 1, allowed to be thrown forward entirely out of the way ofthe slide, while the other arm t1, or t, is allowed by the removal ofthe step at, or u1, to be thrown forward by its weight s, or s1, and thecorresponding shifter g1, or g, allowed to fall back as the projectione4, or ful, passes it with the motion of the bar K. The consequence ofthis is that as the bar K returns, the projection a4, or '01, of theslide K1 meets the shifter which has fallen back, and the slide is thusarrested while the bar K completes its movement in that direction. Theslide having been thus shifted on the bar, the operation of thetraversing guide my, is the same as before, but takes place opposite toa portion of the bobbin D, nearer to one or the other end thereof,according as the change of position has been caused by an increase ordiminution in the thickness of the thread. The shifters now remainstationary till there is again a suflicient variation in the size of thethread to make the eccentric wheel and its cam resume theirfirst-mentioned positions, when that shifter which has been thrownforward out of the way of the slide K1, is allowed to fall back and thesaid slide K1, while the bar moves onward, which causes all parts toreturn to the conditions or positions first specified, where they remaintill there occurs another sufficient Variation in size to cause the camP, to operate the Shifters.

By the above operation of the traversing guide m, it is obvious that thethread is dis tributed with that portion which is of a size forming anaverage of the whole on the middle of the bobbin D, and that which isthinner nearer to one, and that which is thicker nearer to the otherend.

In the example of the invention represented in the drawing, the thickestwill be toward that end of the bobbin which is toward the righthand inFig. l, but this depends upon the arrangement of the eccentric wheel G,which, if turned to operate in a direction the reverse of thatexplained' with reference to the arrow shown upon it in Fig. would causeprecisely the reverse arrangement of the thread on the bobbin. When asmuch thread as is considered desirable is wound upon the bobbin D, thelatter is removed with its spindle from the bearings over the shaft E,and placed in bearings in two brackets R, R, at the back of the lowerrail B1, of the framing, to have the thread unwound from it in threedifferent sizes on to the three spools S1, S2, S3, which are fittedtightly on to independent spindles ww, ww, wf, arranged in line witheach other in bearings in the top of the framing immediately over theshaft F. The spindles wv, 1122*, ww, are furnished each with a frictionroller which rests upon one of three friction rollers y, y, y, on theshaft F, and by that means the spools S1, S2, S3, are caused to have arotary motion imparted to them from the said shaft F.

A short distance above the brackets R, R, there is rigidly secured astraight bar of round iron or steel lV, which is parallel with thedirection of the axis of the bobbin D, when the spindle of the latter issupported in its bearings in the brackets R, R; and to this bar isfitted a carriage T, having a long arm 8, which is made with a V-shapedlower edge to be received within one of three notches al, z2, a3, in thetop edge of a plate U, which is bolted to the rail B1, the said notchesserving to keep the carriage T from being moved along the baraccidentally. The top of the carriage T is formed of two plates, whicharie formed as shown in Fig. 6, (which is a plan view of said carriage,)so as to present an opening y, (see Figs. 3, and 6)-whose length isabout equal to or a little greater than one third of the length overwhich the thread is distributed on the bobbin D, and whose widthdiminishes from the middle toward its ends where it terminates in veryacute notches yi, yl, in which a thread will catch.

To commence the winding of the thread from the bobbin D, upon the spoolsS1, S2, S3, its end is found, and if the said end is near the middle ofthe bobbin, the carriage T is arranged with its arm 8 in the middlenotch Y2, and the thread t, after being passed up through the opening y,is made fast to the middle spool S2; but if the end of the thread isnearer to either extremity of the bobbin, the carriage is arranged withits arm in the nearest notch al, or a2, and the thread after beingpassed up through the opening y, is made fast to the spool S1, or S3,nearest that end of the bobbin. Suppose, for example, the end of thethread is found to be nearest the left hand end of the bobbin, thecarriage is arranged with its arm in the notch al, and the thread isconducted up to the spool S1. The spool being in motion, the windingfrom the bobbin D commences; the latter being turned by the draft of thethread. So long as the thread comes from that portion of the bobbinwithin a certain distance from the middle, it passes freely through theopening 1, but as soon as it draws from the middle portion, the obliquedirection it takes from the bobbin to the spool brings it into one ofthe notches yf, in which it is held, and by that means the winding isstopped or the thread would be broken, but such breakage is guardedagainst by the driving of the spools by friction rollers. The stoppagewill be observed by the attendant whose duty it will be to watch themachine, and who will then break the thread close to the spool, andafter moving the carriage by its handle g, to the next notch a2, willtake the broken end coming from the bobbin D, and secure it to the spoolS2, which then commences winding. The ends of the thread may be securedto the spools sufficiently to commence winding, by simply wetting themin the mouth and laying them on the spools. The winding on the spool S2continues till the thread begins to unwind from within a certaindistance from either end of the bobbin D, when the oblique direction itis caused to take between the bobbin and spool brings it into one ofthenotches y", and again causes a stoppage of the winding. The thread isthen broken again by the attendant and the carriage shifted to thenotches el, or z3, nearest the part of the bobbin D, from which thethread comes and the end secured to the nearest spool S1, 0r S3. In thisway the operation proceeds, the attendant breaking the thread andsecuring it to the next spool every time the winding stops, until thethread is all unwound from the bobbin D, when another on which thethread has been similarly distributed may be put in its place. Thespools S1, S2, S3, may be taken out as fast as they severally becomefull and be replaced by empty ones. While the winding-0H from one bobbinD, is going on, another may be in operation at the top of the machinehaving the thread wound on it in the manner hereinbefore described.

It is obvious that the thread may be sorted into more than three sizesby increasing the number of steps on the cam P, and stops on the slideK1, and the number of the spools S1, S2, S3, and notches Z1, z2, es.

I will remark that instead of the eccentric wheel, a weighted wedgemight be arranged to operate in combination with ak roller so as toproduce substantially the same eect, and two surfaces of other form maybe arranged to operate with a substantially similar result, but Iregardthe use of the eccentric wheel and roller to be the mostpractical.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A device by which the varying thickness of the thread is made toshift a traversing guide or its equivalent, to distribute the threadupon a winding apparatus according to its thickness, consisting of twosurfaces, one of which is caused to receive a reciprocating motionthrough the agency of variations in the thickness of t-he thread passingbetween them; whether the said surfaces consist of the peripheries of aneccentric wheel and roller, as represented in the drawing and hereindescribed, or have any other form which permits of their operation inanv equivalent manner.

2. The movable carriage T, with its opening y, and notches yli, yf,applied in combination with the series of spools S1, S2, S3, and thebobbin D, or winder on which the thread has been distributed andarranged according to its size or thickness, and operating substantiallyas described, to stop the winding operation as the unwinding ofthethread from said bobbin or Winder varies beyond certain parts thereof.

IRA DIMOCK.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR Gr. HILL, I E. W. EATON.

